Uphold thy mantle
by Stairman
Summary: They have survived, staving off the parasite and triumphing against their foes the forerunners, after a millennia of struggle and conflict. Now free from the oppression of their greatest enemies, they seek to protect the mantle. However the storm has not passed. As those cloaked in shadow conspire, so do the drums of war beat, and the galaxy shall be bathed in fire and bloodshed.


**Uphold thy mantle**

**This is my first time on fan fiction so... please be harsh on me. Comment on everything you think is wrong no matter how trivial, grammatical errors, plot inconsistencies, ETC... hold nothing back, even "flames" (god I hate that fucking word)****  
**

A smoky haze hung over the ruined city, the crimson sky stained with the blood of countless innocents. What had once been a beautiful city was now a smoking wreck. The gleaming vast towers of brightest blue that stretched far above the clouds, now damaged and dulled by the constant clamour of war. The streets and roads that had once carried countless billions through their daily lives were now damaged and cracked from the fighting. Bodies littered across the place like discarded toys, some in pieces, some not even human. The howls of flood forms, people who had fallen and become infected with a deadly parasite, echoed throughout the ruined city. Interchanged with the sounds of gunfire, the tell-tale signs of human resistance against the veritable onslaught of enemies.

On a lone street, crouched behind a barricade of reinforced thuridium and debris, a single soldier couldn't help but feel the heavy handle of responsibility on his shoulders. Next to him a child around 10 years old huddled behind a pile of rubble, eyes wide and red from crying.

A weary sigh passed his lips as the orders were given oven the communicator. The war had only been waged for several months, yet in such a short time it had already claimed so much from them; so many lives.

"Sorry child, but orders from the lord commander cannot be denied, no matter how gruesome."

Heart heavy with guilt and regret, Riser passed a rifle to the kid, sending him out onto the war torn streets. Not a minute later and the child was now the proud owner of a flood infestation, bulbous fleshy sacs covered its lower back and tentacles sprouting out of its chest. The abomination let out a horrific war cry and charged in his direction, intent on doing gods-knows-what to him. Without saying a word, he raised his weapon over the barricade and fired. Shards of bright blue energy tore straight through the flood form, shattering it into thousands of pieces.

The feelings of self-loathing and regret washed over him as he saw the nature of his actions. _'Curse this damn war and all its gods forsaken protocols- ah shit!"_

He let out a string of curses as a dozen combat forms came charging out of the wreckage to his left, weapons ablaze.

Firing at them, he made a retreat towards the nearest source of cover, that being the barricade he'd taken refuge behind; destroying several of the parasites in the process. He managed to take cover before he could be hit, though not before several shots clipped him on the shoulder, draining his shields.

He grit his teeth as continued to impact against the barricade, thuridium metal warping under the heat of the energy from the infected soldiers. Their inhuman screams rising over the battlefield as they continued to fire, a rising crescendo of heat and explosions amidst the orchestra of battle. '

_'An assault drone would have been handy right about now'_ he thought bitterly. Unfortunately for him, his had been lost during the initial assault on the city. That was fine with him though, he could survive on his own, he'd just have to make due. Pulling a small orb out of his data pack, he pressed a red circle on the top and hurled it over his shoulder. A great cascade of light appeared and a moment later the terrifying noises stopped, along with the gun fire.

Cautiously he peeked over the barrier, Shard rifle ready to fire at a moment's notice. Where the infected forms once stood, a crater stood in their place; a smooth rim carved into a landscape devoid of life; well except for one form apparently which had miraculously survived the blast, its charred body letting out weird hisses and shrieks of what was presumably pain.

Without an ounce of pity he raised his rifle at the creature and fired, shattering its form like glass. He lowered the weapon, releasing the breath that he'd been holding unconsciously. Beneath his helmet however, a scowl crossed his face as he noticed the symbol on the remains of its armour; a three pronged spear within a circle.

_The Arcadian defense force? By the gods, if they were overrun then…_

He let out a heavy sigh at that thought. The defense force were the chief military presence in the Arcadian sector, well known for their stubborn temperament and defiant attitude in the face of overwhelming odds.

During the mantle war, when forerunner ships had overwhelmed the naval fleet over Arcadia, the governing world of the sector and the origin of its namesake, when the Promethean warrior-servants stormed its cities, it is said that the Arcadian foot soldiers held out for years, using guerrilla warfare tactics to ambush the invaders and whittle down their numbers, striking fear into the hearts of the invaders with their hit and run attacks.

They eventually managed to hijack a forerunner transport and fly it right into the middle of the fleet before detonating a slipspace bomb; destroying a third of the forerunner fleet just as the empire's naval liberation fleet arrived.

And now they were forced into another gods-be-damned-war.

War it seemed, was never too far away when it came to humans. It had only been several hundred years since their conflict with the forerunners, a war in which they'd only won by the barest of margins. The consequences of winning that war had been dire indeed, and now they were stuck in another gods be dammed war, with the flood no less! An enemy that shouldn't even exist anymore! Hadn't they been cursed with enough war? Or was this punishment for forsaking the mantle one too many times?

He stifled that thought internally. This was no time to be caught up in a theology debate, especially not in the middle of a battlefield. With a single thought, transmitted through the control interface implanted in his skull, he activated the holo-communicator in his helmet.

"Can anyone hear me? This is Lieutenant Riser Taldaris calling all available squads within the area. I repeat, is anyone there?

He was only met with silence.

Scowling, he attempted communication again, trying to quell his increasingly morbid thoughts.

"This is Lieutenant Taldaris calling all units within the area. I repeat, is anyone there?" his thick accent broadcasting over the binary waves, his accent a trait unique to those born on Sothra hakkor.

Once again, he was met with silence. The eerie quiet seemed to stretch on forever like the dark abyss of space, threatening to engulf him. No one had contacted at all yet, and the silence was beginning to unnerve him. If that was so and he was the only one alive for hundreds of kilometres then-

"This is captain Risas of the thirteenth Arcadian guard unit, do you hear me, lieutenant?" a deep baritone voice responded, calm and steady like mountains of Erde-Tyrene.

_'Thank the gods'_

"Yes I hear you. I'd feared that I was the only one left alive in the region."

He heard a brief chuckle on the other end. "Us? I'm afraid were too stubborn to die. What's the situation at your end lieutenant?"

"I am the only one of my squad left alive, sir. The rest of my detachment were killed when the flood infestation hit the city and I barely survived the ordeal."

"What of the other detachments in your area?"

Beneath his helmet, Riser frowned.

"Sir, as far as I know, everyone else is dead. I did encounter several infected forms wearing the Armour of the Arcadian defense force though and there are citizens still hiding within the rubble."

A hitch in his breath was his only reaction before he responded.

"The soldiers were overrun? Gods damn it, this is worse than I imagined."

A weary sigh filled the com link before descending into a brief, poignant silence. Then he responded.

"New plan Lieutenant. There's a transport shuttle in the east quadrant of the city less than a kilometre away from your position. You are to reach it and use it to carry as many people as possible towards the fleet."

"Sir?"

"The navy may have given up on saving those people but I haven't. We will have to be swift though, the fleet will bombard this city when the infected ships have been destroyed. This gives us a window of two hours to rescue any survivors and leave."

"I…" he stopped for a moment "my lord, there isn't enough time to rescue everyone in this city, and we don't even know how many citizens are still alive!" he protested.

"Then we will do our damn best to rescue as many people as possible before the navy begins cleansing the planet. That is an order, lieutenant." his voice rippling with anger.

A brief pause "understood, sir."

"Good. Captain Risas out."

With a single though he deactivated the holo-communicator, letting out yet another weary sigh.

"And just when my day couldn't get any easier."

He cradled his gun, trepidation rising with the howls of flood forms and the occasional flash of heavy weaponry. Pressing the coordinates into the wrist mounted slipspace teleporter, a bitter scowl crossing his face.

"The gods must really hate me right now."

With the last sequence of numbers, he activated the teleporter, the folds of slipspace swallowing him whole.

And In the distance, the howling of the flood seemed to rise with audible excitement.

* * *

"By the spirits," varrus breathed, his mandible's practically hanging open.

Enormous did not begin to describe the behemoth structure orbiting the planet below. Full of sharp angles and wreathed in ornate designs, which spoke of both power and elegance. From a distance it appeared to be heavily damaged, with scathing black trenches running deep into the underbelly of the ornate structure, likely from the barrel of some sort of super weapon. Despite these imperfections, it still managed to appear the perfect blend of both regal and intimidating.

"J-just what is that thing!?" exclaimed Alya, the leader of the expedition and the only Asari within the group.

Jenka could only stare on in awe of the grand superstructure, having lost coherency the moment she lay eyes on it.

"What species could design such a structure?" the only member of the team who wasn't completely incoherent, a salarian named jonart sumor spoke, though his voice was also tinged with a mix of disbelief and awe.

"No, the real question is, what kind of weapon could damage such a structure in the first place. That thing's bigger than the damned citadel!" varrus, ever the cynical one.

Most of the team frowned at that, or whatever passed for frowns within their respective species. Jonart however appeared thoughtful.

"Limited data means no conclusion. More tests need to be done, more analysis."

"Agreed, we need more information then what we have right now. That is why we're out here after all."

Alya activated the intercom and spoke to the pilot.

"Pilot, take us forward, but be cautious, we have no idea whether this thing is still active."

"Understood."

Commissioned when the council approved the activation of dormant mass effect relays, the starship _light of prosperity_ was a fresh off the line frigate outfitted with experimental technology, including a new miniature dreadnaught cannon and the latest salarian software and cyber-warfare systems. It also came equipped with a new and very rare type of barrier called cyclonic shielding, which contrary to standard kinetic barriers, deflected rather than blocked projectiles. Should this fail, then the ships new Nano-composite plating will stop almost any type of projectile weaponry and even guardian lasers to a limited degree. The composite plating in reality, actually held millions of nanomite machines which could absorb mass accelerator rounds and perform a limited self-repair; using absorbed kinetic rounds to fuel this function.

The ship's design was different to that of other starships; combining the sleek, curvy and aesthetically pleasing designs of Asari spacecraft with the utilitarian pragmatism of Turian architecture. It was truly a ship worthy of space exploration.

The frigate shot towards the gargantuan superstructure, inching closer and closer. As they neared the structure, they noticed smaller wounds doting the massive station (for what else could it be)? Scores of blacked rends and craters pick pocketing the otherwise beautiful metal, missing small chunks of the hull as well.

With all the damage suffered and the ugly wounds it had sustained, the structure appeared demonic and haunted, like a ship thrown from the pits of the afterlife, a corpse from a by gone era.

"According the scanners, this station is approximately 50 kilometres in length and appears to utilise absolutely no element zero what so ever!" Jenka, a Quarian, exclaimed, her voice tinged with disbelief.

"What that's impossible! All space-faring races use element zero, without it you can't even travel faster than light!" varrus replied sceptically.

Alya observed the structure "if that's the case then this must be the home system of these people, whoever they were." She said, noting the field of debris orbiting the planet.

"Doubtful, the size of the station indicates a large industry and economy. A Species still confined to their home system would not have the industrial capabilities to build such a structure." The salarians speech was fast paced, a typical characteristic for their species.

Jenka was quick to reply "Wait! If this planet is just a colony and their ships didn't use eezo, then that would mean…"

"An alternate form of FTL." Finished Alya.

The others continued to stare on in awe.

Jonart, ever the observant one, was quick to notice what the others didn't.

"If I didn't know any better, I would say that those circles on the back appear to be engines of some sort, which would make that thing either some sort of mobile station or a starship."

"The protheans were the most advanced race in the galaxy and even they couldn't build ships of that size!" varrus retorted.

"As I said, I do not possess enough data to make a logical conclusion."

Just as varrus was about to respond, a message broadcasted over the intercom interrupted their conversation.

"Captain, we've found what appears to be a body!"

"What!" Alya was quick to respond "show me, put it on screen now!"

The blank display screen in the cabin was instantly replaced by the cold visage of space, pieces of debris and ship pieces floating about aimlessly. In the distance, next to a particularly large triangular shaped debris, a body floated. It was large, around 2 and a half meters tall and appeared to be some sort of mech. its head seemed eerily similar to that of a Geth, a single blue eye glowing dimly in the void.

"Spirits, what is that thing?" Varrus uttered, curious and slightly weary of its alien design.

"Wow! This technology, even though it's damaged it's so… beautiful." Jenka finished, her expression filled with wonder, though it was hidden behind her visor.

"Don't get any ideas." He muttered ominously.

Jenka turned to face the turian. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?" she glared at him, glowering with accusation.

Varrus merely scoffed at her response. "What? You suit rats are always tinkering with things you shouldn't be. You're probably planning to run off with it!"

She glowered at him angrily, though it wasn't visible behind her visor. She clenched her fists tightly, struggling to not lash out at the prejudiced turian. Just as she was about to retort, another voice cut her off.

"That's enough the both of you! You were chosen for this mission because you both possess the necessary skills, but that doesn't mean I can't replace you, understood?" Alya's voice was stern and demanding, which was unusual, even for an asari ex-commando since they tended to use their feminine whiles to command attention.

They both nodded stiffly, not wanted to upset the captain any further. She looked at them once before nodding. Activating the intercom, she issued commands to the pilot.

"Retrieve that mech, we're going to take a look at it."

"At once, captain." Was her response before the ship turned and headed in the direction of the alien machine. The ship shot through the void, closing the distance rapidly near the alien technology. As it approached, an artificially generated mass effect field surrounded the unknown artefact, similar in effect and appearance to the biotic ability "lift" and tethered it towards the frigate. A small hatch opened and the artefact was pulled inside.

Within the ship, Alya turned towards her crewmembers and spoke.

"All of you, meet me in the cargo bay at once."

There was a brief chorus of "yes captain" before they left the central cabin. Her face not betraying any of her inner turmoil, she continued to stare at the display. She just hoped that whatever they'd found wasn't going to be hostile, spirits knows they didn't need another geth or krogan running around the galaxy.

Within the containment area, the team of four surrounded the ornate mech, held in place by mass effect fields and contained within a transparent tank; designed to withstand armour piercing rounds and explosives.

"Wow…"

This sentiment was shared by everyone in the room, even the usually stone-faced Alya was amazed at its design and how _beautiful _it looked. However it was not to be, as the frantic voice of the pilot filtered over the intercom.

"Captain reporting massive build-up of energy five hundred thousand kilometres from the structure!"

"What! Bring it up on screen!"

The rest of the team turned towards the display as it lit up, the anomaly now on screen for all to see. A portal of cascading lightning and strange blue energy materialised in the void, allowing a ship of unknown design to pass through, before it disappeared; all within the span of a second. This ship was different though, pervading a sense of complete and utter wrongness.

They all stared at the screen, confusion and worry turning into horror as they beheld the strange ship.

Varrus was the first one to voice the thought running through their minds. "By the spirits, what is that _thing!?"_

The ship was massive, almost as large as the ornate superstructure, with sickly, organic masses jutting out all over. Several tentacles were flailing about aimlessly and in a complete violation of all known laws of physics, appeared to be _screaming_.

"Oh spirits…"

The horror in the cabin was palpable as they continued to stare at the abomination floating in the void.

"Well," Jenka muttered meekly "at least we know what destroyed the station in the first place." Her enviro-suit doing nothing to hide the feelings of fear and revulsion washing over her.

Within her, a part of her long since forgotten, a forgotten _primal_ feeling told her to run and never look back and hope to all the ancestors that it never _followed them through._

As if it were aware of them, the creature –for there was no possible way that thing could ever be a ship- seemed to notice their presence, despite their advanced cloaking systems, and turned towards their direction. Without warning, it disappeared through the same portal it came through, appearing right next to them.

"Oh spirits! Pilot get us out of here!"

"Right away captain, engaging drivers!"

However just as they were about to escape, a massive shudder ran through the ship.

"What? Damn it what's happening?" Alya was unable to keep the nervous tension out of her voice.

"We appear to be caught in an artificial gravity well. Too late to move. Being sucked in."

"Keelah! what's going to happen to us?" by this point, Jenka was on the verge of hysteria.

A small hole that vaguely resembled a docking station opened up, drawing them into its maw. The lack of light coming from the port and the fleshy opening gave it the appearance of a hungry monster, eager to devour them whole.

The maw began closing on the ship, its sickly walls growing closer and closer.

Course, not everyone had given up on escaping.

"Don't sit around, fire at that thing!" Alya exclaimed, fuelled by desperation.

"Yes captain!" was her only response before the frigate began depositing its payload in the creature, mass accelerator rounds fired at a fraction of the speed of light tore into its organic walls, destroying chunks of biomass. Torpedos blossoming in great explosions, searing the sickly flesh. Yet, all this seemed to do was irritate the creature as the shudders increased and the well drew them in at an even faster rate.

It seemed as though they were going to be devoured by the abomination as they continued to inch closer and closer towards damnation-

-when great shafts of energy, each as wide as a dreadnaught speared right through the creature, obliterating great chunks of it in seconds. Massive explosions tore the thing apart as the beams of energy continued to rain down like a vengeful god, smiting any who would defy it.

"Captain, we're no longer caught within the gravity well, engaging eezo drivers now!"

"Good, get us out of here!" she exclaimed fiercely.

The ship engaged its FTL drive, leaving the terrible nightmare behind them.

**authors notes:**

******this is an AU (technically all fan fiction is AU) with prehistoric humanity as the dominant faction. Meaning no UNSC, no Systems alliance and certainly no Cerberus. I haven't nerfed either side for the sake of "balancing", that shit is just annoying as all hell, after all this is my story and I intend to write it my way. that being said, if either side went to war then humanity would crush the council in a heart beat.**

**I'my writing this as an experiment more than anything else, a way to improve my skills as a writer and develop new ideas. So like I said at the top, if you have any criticisms at all, then don't hesitate to answer. As egotistically satisfying as it is to be praised consistently, I need negative criticism as well in order to improve, otherwise how else will I learn from my mistakes?**

**Also, I should have mentioned this earlier, but this is a one shot, not a full story. I wrote this in the moment, rather than with any planning. that being said, I might (emphasis on might) continue this in the near future.**

**cheers.**


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